4 Alternatives to Artificial Snow for Decorating Photo Frames

Submitted by joybrealey on 12 December, 2018 - 23:24

The Festive season is upon us, Christmas trees are up, tinsel around the house, fairy lights, snow globes, Santa ornaments and candy canes all make for the traditional festive season, as do many novelty sprays, stickers and wall murals.

The one thing to avoid on your photo frames though is artificial snow. Mainly because the majority of it is water content and water does not bode well with photos. The frame may well hold up to the moisture levels; however, even the tiniest of gaps between the Perspex and the frame can allow the moisture to seep behind the Perspex or glass and damage your photo or artwork.

4 Alternatives to Artificial Snow (safe for decorating photo frames)

Window stickers and decal

Just as you’d use these to put on your windows, making it festive on the outside and inside, you can do the same with your photo frames.

Glue Dots

These are handy for sticking a bow in the corner of a frame. Wrap some ribbon diagonally on one side of the frame, stick a glue dot and attach a bow.

Use a roll of mounting tape

If you’re using mounting tape on glass, check to make sure it’s removable without leaving residue behind. Most will still leave some residue; however, you can remove it with a cotton ball and some rubbing alcohol.

Use a Pritt Stick for glitter

Glitter makes everything better! Unless you choose a glue that has a high moisture content. Most are over 90% water content and need to be brushed on sparingly. The drier the glue you use, the better.

Important…

What you’ll want to do before you apply glue or glitter is to put a protective seal around the edge of the frame using mounting tape. This will prevent the glitter from getting stuck between the frame and glazing when you’re removing it.

Getting glitter off the frame is the tricky part because unlike other glass you’ll have around the house that can be put a cycle in the dishwasher to make it easier to remove, you cannot do that with all types of acrylics. It would need to be labelled as dishwasher-safe, which few acrylics used in professional photo frames are.

Instead, it’s a steady hand, and a razor blade held flat to the surface and very carefully peel away the glue along with the glitter. If that sounds scary to you, pass up on the glue and glitter for decoration.

You could decide instead to use a thin piece of paper, such as tracing paper and apply the glue to that. Draw whatever shape you want, trace it, apply the glue, sprinkle your glitter and cut it out. Stick the tracing paper down using glue dots or mounting tape, and you can peel it right off.

What you don’t want on your frame’s glass is anything with high moisture content. Whatever you use to decorate your frames or any glass in your home including putting window decals up, you’ll want to have some rubbing alcohol on hand for January to get the residue away and the sheen back on your glazing.